O So New Stall Project

[O So]

This is one of my 2011 goals! I want to make a better shelter for O So. I thought it would be fun to make a "project" thread about it. I put it in the photo section of the forum do to the fact it will have a lot of pictures as I go along. If a Mod feels it is suited better for a different forum, feel free to move it!

Today I was telling hubby that I was thinking of taking part of my garage ( or barn if one wants to call it that, lol) and make it into a stall for O So. He thought that was a pretty good idea!! We basically use it for storage of junk, I mean prize possessions, that we don't use but don't want to get rid of! LOL That and 2 parts of it are my Macaw's indoor areas.

Here is a pic of what the area looks like now. Yah, it is a mess.

You can see a row of garbage cans on the left. On top of the last garbage can you can see yellow Tupperware, just above those is a shelf. That shelf will be removed but the shelves above it will stay. They are high enough O So will not be able to get to them. Then of course all the junk on the floor will need to be moved to a new spot. Basically I will need to "heaven forbid" get rid of some stuff!

Here is a very rough photoshoped version of what I want it to look like!

Here is a view from looking in the door way. I am standing between the 2 macaw indoor cages.

What you see in that picture is O So's hay rack and a bunch more of my "prize possessions".

Here is a view of the same pic from above, but with my expertly done photoshop! LOL

The hay rack will be moved down to the right so there will be no chance of him getting to it. That and the washing machine will be gone too!

The total size when complete will be 8' by 11'. Not the biggest stall, but it will be much better then the make shift shelter he has now. Some bonus's ( at least I think they are) is that the floor is all concrete, so that will make it much easier for me to keep it clean and his feet will stay dry. I plan on using wood shavings for bedding. Another bonus is I plan to make the door way that leads outside, closeable. That way I can lock him in if I want him to stay out of the rain.

I will add pics as I go along.

 

[TheCaseFamily00]

I think O So will be very happy there.Look forward to seeing more pics

 

[CCC]

I think it's a great idea! good luck with it, i'll be looking forward to seeing the next set of pics as you go along!

 

[Annabellarose]

Just keep in mind that if something interests him on one of those shelves, he WILL rear up on his hind legs to get at it, ESPECIALLY if confined (bored) to a stall for any length of time (it may only take him 5 minutes, LOL). If you have a concrete floor, I would recommend putting down rubber stall mats so that he does not have to stand directly on the concrete. Concrete gets very tiresome for a horse's legs (horses stand on their legs a lot more than humans do). Where I live I can buy a 4 foot by 6 foot mat (that can be trimmed) for about $55. You can cut them up and rearrange the pieces so that the entire area is covered. They make stall cleaning a lot easier and quicker and feeding time for him when he's in the stall a lot more sanitary (as mats can be pulled out occasionally and scrubbed).

 

[candycar]

Looks like a great plan. 8X11 is plenty big enough!

Mine are only 8X8 and both "R- Bs" will go together in one stall to hang out. I also have a shelf in the stalls. They come in very handy when all your other horse stuff is in the garage or house or way out the other side of the yard in a shed. Never had any problem with them getting stuff off of it. I even keep their hay ration (in laundry baskets) and grain (in containers) on them. It is high up though, about eye high on me and I'm 5'3". I would ditto the stall mats though, they pay for themselves with shavings saved and are more comfy for the horse.

Looking forward to more pics as you come along....

 

[O So]

I got off work at 7am this morning. Came home and ate breakfast then went to work out in the garage. Just now stopped working on it and it is now 4.30pm. I am bushed.

Here is a pic at about an hour into cleaning!

At lunch I played musical cars ( rearranged cars) to make room for our small box trailer. That took some of my garage time up, but it was all good because now I have somewhere to put the stuff, oops, Prize Possessions that I don't want in. That and it also is acting as a garbage can at the back end of it! I already have the front half of the 4x6 trailer filled with stuff I decided to get rid of! I still have about 4 more feet of shelving to go through tomorrow. Not including the top shelf. I may not do that one quite yet.

Here are a few pics of when I quit for the day. It doesn't look like much but I really did make a lot of head way. Things are just kind of scattered in the center right now so I could try to work in the front corner, not in the pics!

In this pic if you look past the hay rack, you can see I have a few shelves pretty well cleaned off!

In this one you can see the floor under the shelves is pretty well clean. The stuff on the bottom shelf is stuff I need to make room on a shelf somewhere I can get to it. It is basically tools and such that I will use from time to time. The stuff on the next shelf up is stuff I am keeping.

Ok, after reading your guy's replies. I may shuffle the stuff on the shelf that is staying, over to the side of the garage. That way O So can't stand and get to it. Either that or I will put a boarder around it all so he won't be able to get it even if he can reach up that high.

Thanks for the tips on the rubber mats. I saw some at the feed store last time I was there. I will have to go price them.

I came up with something I would like to do inside his stall. I think I will take about a 3 or 4 ft. section and have just rubber, no shavings. It will be separated by a 2x4. On the other side of the board I will have the rubber mats and shavings. I will put O So's food and water dishes in the area with no shavings. My thinking on doing it this way is, when he knocks hay out of his feeder, it will not get mixed with the shavings. That and the water will pretty well drip mainly on the rubber mat. I know some shavings will cross the boarder, but it still would be easier to keep his food separated.

If all goes well in the morning, I am hoping to get a few more hours in before I have to take my nap for going to work at midnight tomorrow night! If not, I will for sure work on it when I get home from work on Wed. morning! I'm really hoping to have it ready to build the inside walls and door by this coming weekend. Building it will be kind of the slow part. I have to wait for hubby to help me do that part! LOL

 

[mydaddysjag]

You dont have to use a 2x4 to divide it, just put rubber mats in the entire stall and only spread the shavings in the back half of the stall. Its also a very good way to teach them to potty in one part of the stall, which makes stall cleaning easier.

 

[LindaL]

You dont have to use a 2x4 to divide it, just put rubber mats in the entire stall and only spread the shavings in the back half of the stall. Its also a very good way to teach them to potty in one part of the stall, which makes stall cleaning easier.

I do that, too (altho I do have a mare that "prefers" to poop right in front of the stall door

)

Horses will sift thru the shavings for bits of hay...No need to separate them.

It is looking good so far. I would put things that are to be left on shelves as high as possible, tho...or put some sort of cabinet doors on them. Horses are like little kids...curious little beggers...LOL!

 

[O So]

Today wasn't a very productive day. I only had a few hours to work on it do to having to sleep part of the day to get ready for work tonight at midnight. I will hopefully be able to finish the cleaning tomorrow though!

In this pic you can see I have some of the shelves organized. I now have a shelf for my misc. tools and screws, nails, nuts, and bolts. I have a shelf for my tie dye and garden stuff too. Most important, I finally have a shelf for my horse tack!

I still need to add some more misc. stuff to those shelves but it is a start.

Here you can see I got almost all the stuff off of the shelf that needs to be removed!

Tomorrow I am hoping to finish it off. So this weekend we will hopefully (depending on hubby) build the actual stall wall.

Now to answer some replies!

I figured the 2x4 would help keep the shavings out of his hay area. I guess it probably wouldn't do to much anyway, considering he will probably kick it over when he goes back and forth anyway!

The reason for separating the shavings from the food is to keep him from ingesting the shavings. I plan to put rubber mats through out the whole thing.

As far as the stuff on that shelf that is staying. We plan on putting a 1x4 or 1x6 board all across it. That way he won't be able to reach the stuff or knock it off!

What do you guy's think of those truck rubber mats? You think those would work just as well as the actual horse ones? Reason I as is I can get those free! LOL Hubby runs across them from time to time at his work. All I would do is cut the wheel well sections out to make on long straight piece. Then piece them together. I just don't know how much cushion they would have compared to the actual horse kind.

Thanks for the suggestions and tips. Keep them coming!!

 

[LindaL]

What do you guy's think of those truck rubber mats? You think those would work just as well as the actual horse ones? Reason I as is I can get those free! LOL Hubby runs across them from time to time at his work. All I would do is cut the wheel well sections out to make on long straight piece. Then piece them together. I just don't know how much cushion they would have compared to the actual horse kind.

Thanks for the suggestions and tips. Keep them coming!!

If it were dirt/sand as a base, I would say those would work, but since it is concrete, I'd say a minimum of 1/2 inch thick padding would be best. It is very tiresome for them to stand on hard surface all day and truck mats just aren't that "shock absorbing".

 

[O So]

If it were dirt/sand as a base, I would say those would work, but since it is concrete, I'd say a minimum of 1/2 inch thick padding would be best. It is very tiresome for them to stand on hard surface all day and truck mats just aren't that "shock absorbing".

Ok, thanks! I will buy some normal horse mats.

Hubby and I were out looking at my progress today and we were discussing where the outside door was going to be. I made a diagram of how I want it set up to where he wants the doors.

I had to take a pic of my diagram because I couldn't figure out how to save it as a jpg. LOL I don't have a 'paint' featrue for mac. I need to go buy one. LOL

What do you guy's think of the lay out? The dark blue thing on the top upper left is the door leading outside. The words didn't show up very good in the photo.

I wanted the water somewhat close to the door so I can empty and refill it easier. Just toss it out the door.

I really don't care for the feed bucket being so close to the indoor door, but I wanted the food and water at the opposite ind of the stall, far away from the bedding. Hubby wants the door at the left end of the stall because he will be able to connect it to a pre existing wall. Which will make it a more solid door then just having it in the middle. Right now the plan to secure the main wall is to use lag bolts that you drill a hole in the concrete and drive the bolts in, they expand to hold the 2x4s snugly to the ground. I explained that so you can see where a door in the middle would be weak. I may try to talk him into running board up to the rafters at the top, so in my book, that would make the middle more solid and I would think we could put a door in the middle instead. I will have to talk to hubby about that.

 

[O So]

Today was a productive day! I only have one more shelf to remove and I will be ready to go buy some lumber.

The brooms in this pic. show roughly where the wall will be.

Here is where I stopped for the day.

You can see where I drew in a door. I believe that is where hubby wants it to be. The 2x4s you see coming down to the floor will be cut at the bottom of the shelf that will be staying. We will attach a 2x4 to the rafters to hold the shelves up. The shelf that is staying is 49" high. I will still ad a board around the whole area so O So can't rear up and get into things.

It was nice today to actually be able to work in the garage and have O So in there too! He can no longer get into his treats.

It is nice to have somewhat of an organized garage!

Another nice thing that will happen once we get the stall done, is I will move O So's lolly pop apple toys into his stall. It's not really bad to have them outside but now that I have my collie in the house and that part of the yard, I go through the treats faster.

He even growls at O So for trying to come over and eat the lick too! LOL And yes, it is a collie. He had to be shaved because of to many knotts in his hair, poor guy. I just didn't keep up on his grooming and things got out of hand fast. The other two dogs didn't help matters by pulling on his hair when playing. I kind of feel sorry for the poor dog though. He can't even go out and take a poo without O So bothering him. LOL I forgot to shut O So out of the yard the dog goes into last night. I had to get out of bed and get O So, so the dog good go to the bathroom.

Now I need some advise. How tall do you guy's think I should make the walls for the stall? I was thinking 4ft with a 3ft door, that way O So can look out the door. I was also thinking of making the outside door in two pieces, 2ft each, or 3 ft for the bottom and 1 foot for the top. That way I could leave the top open to the outside and he could look out that way too. Forgot to mention, O So is only 28 inches tall.

Another thing, I need suggestions for a water bucket. It needs to be really secure, but also able to be removed for cleaning. I was thinking about an automatic filler type, but then it wouldn't be removable. I would like it to hang on the wall.

Thanks again for any suggestions.

 

[Marty]

I really admire you for wanting everything perfect for Oso. Lots of work ahead but its a labor of love isn't it?

My walls are barely 3 feet high and my doors even lower than that. I have a real problem with the stalls if they cannot see out all around them. I love horses to have protection from the elements and Oso is going to really appreciate this in bad weather. Be sure not to lock him in without adequate hay though to keep him calm.

Check for adequate ventilation and no fumes coming from any of those items you have in there. I think you should kick your husband's stuff out of there and take over the whole thing!!!

I must admit I am very concerned with all the stuff on the shelves that I know you think he can't get into. I see lots of poisons that even a cat or rat or some varmit could accidently push down; its just not safe. I honestly would remove them completely from there. Perhaps you could get some rubbermaid containers and store them somewhere else? We learned a million years ago that you can never have enough storage sheds around and had to make one investment after another in them. Good horsekeeping seems to have no ending doesn't it? Keep up the good work!

 

[wrs]

You've made alot of progress.

Another thing, I need suggestions for a water bucket. It needs to be really secure, but also able to be removed for cleaning. I was thinking about an automatic filler type, but then it wouldn't be removable. I would like it to hang on the wall.

We've always had the best luck using the flat back buckets. I clean my buckets daily sometimes twice daily so I like them to be easy to remove.

These two bucket holders work well. Bucket hanger 1 , Bucket hanger 2

We prefer the second one, it holds the bucket firmly in place.

Keep up the good work. Looking forward to seeing more progress pictures.

 

[MajorClementine]

How wonderful you are able to make him an indoor space. It's looking awesome. I too am a "pack rat" so I know how you feel when you look in your garage/barn

You've made amazing progress in such a short amount of time.

My only concern is also the things remaining on the shelves. You see, miniature horses weren't told that they are mini size... they seem to be able to reach and get into anything they put their minds to. And they are curious about everything! I think the totes are a really good idea. You cold pack a lot into each tote and move them up a shelf or so. Would hate him to get into something and get hurt.

Looking forward to more pics

 

[TheCaseFamily00]

What about hindged pieces of plywood or OSB for doors covering the things you want to keep?Sorry if this was already suggested,keep up the good work

 

[O So]

Thanks for the suggestions you guys!

As far as the shelf that is staying, we are going to put a board across the whole thing so nothing will fall off or he won't be able to knock it off. I may end up moving some more stuff off that shelf as I go though. I will have some space left over on the other side but I have to wait till we build the wall of the stall before I can move stuff around. Believe me, I will make it safe for him to be in the stall.

As far as fumes, there is nothing in there that is gas powered anymore! I took the rotor tiller and pressure washer to the lawn mower shed!

Only chemicals in there now are my horse sprays, tie dye stuff ( sealed) and my cake dye water bottles. ( They are used to dye my Macaws wood toys, safe for them to eat, so no harm for O So either). The tie dye stuff is clear across the garage so no chance of him or a rat knocking it off in his stall.

I should have pretty good ventilation. At least I hope. There will be the door leading outside ( which I want to leave the top part open all the time so he can look out if locked in), and both my bird aviaries have windows that are open 24/7. The doors on their cages that lead are in the garage are those metal security doors. They allow the air to circulate!

I hope to have more pics tomorrow. I am also hoping I can get hubby to build the wall and cut the outside door. Then I can at least let O So in there. For now he will most likely only be getting 2 rubber mats for one side of the stall. I priced them online only and they are around 80 bucks! I haven't priced my feed store yet. Right now I can only afford the 120 bucks or so for 2, 4x6 mats. I will hopefully be able to buy the next 2 mats a week or 2 later.

 

[TheCaseFamily00]

I don't know where you are but aroun here the average price is $30.00 for mats,Big R or Tractor supply.

 

[O So]

I don't know where you are but aroun here the average price is $30.00 for mats,Big R or Tractor supply.

I"m in Sacramento. I am going to my feed store tomorrow to price some. I can't wait.

Yah, I like buying stuff for my spoiled little guy!

 

[chandab]

I don't know if you have a TSC close, but here's what they have available in mats:

http://www.tractorsupply.com/equine/horse-stalls-accessories/rubber-matting/

I'd love to have some mats in my stalls, but its not in the budget, and the dirt floor is ok for now.